Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle

a USK verification compared with a PEGI verification on a Nintendo DS game package

Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (English: Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body, abbreviation USK) is the official computer gamesrating organization in Germany. All ratings by USK are official and fall under law, so you must appreciate them. You have to show the seller your passport if you fall under age restrictions: USK ensures that computer games are only sold to children and young people if the contents of the games have been approved as OK for them.

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The USK has been founded in 1994 and has it headquarters in Berlin, Germany. Around 30,000 video games have been checked for approval since the beginning; every year more than 1,000 games are submitted by publishers. USK defines itself as "the strictest age classification rules in the world". The game is not allowed to be sold in Germany if there is no USK verification.